Exercises on Cretan Civilization

The Cretan civilization developed on the island of Crete sometime between 3000 BC. and 2000 BC. and existed until around 1400 BC, when they were absorbed by the Mycenaeans. The existence of this civilization is concentrated in which period of the history of Ancient Greece:

a) Pre-Homeric

b) Homeric

c) Archaic

d) Classic

e) Hellenistic

The Cretans were marked for having developed a unique script, known as:

a) cuneiform

b) demotic

c) Linear A

d) Linear B

e) Hangul

About 1400 BC, historians say that the Cretans were absorbed by a civilization that inhabited the region of Greece:the Mycenaeans. What factors have historians raised to explain the decline of the Cretans?

a) The defeat of the Hittites in the Trojan War, which ended the important trade that supplied Crete.

b) Natural disasters in sequence plus the arrival of a militarily superior people.

c) A war against the Hittites that led to the conquest of Knossos.

d) Climate change promoted by the predatory lifestyle of the Cretans.

e) Historians have no evidence to justify the weakening of the Cretans.

The Cretans became well known for their large maritime fleet, which was responsible for marketing products from different peoples of the Aegean Sea. Based on this information, indicate what the political system of the Cretans was.

a) autocracy

b) theocracy

c) democracy

d) thalassocracy

e) physiocracy

LETER A

The period of existence of the Cretans, in the periodization made by historians, fits into what became known as Pre-Homeric. This period covered until approximately 1000 BC. and encompassed other peoples besides the Cretans, such as the Mycenaeans.

LETER C

The form of writing developed by the Cretans was named by linguists Linear A and was discovered when archaeological evidence of the Cretan civilization was found. It is a form of writing based on hieroglyphics and has a language classified as pre-Greek. To this day, experts have not been able to decipher this form of writing.

LETER B

The reasons for the decline of the Cretans are uncertain, but historians generally point out that natural disasters such as earthquakes and volcanic eruptions weakened the Cretans' way of life and made make us vulnerable to conquest by other peoples. During this process, they ended up being culturally absorbed by the Mycenaeans, a militarily superior people.

LETER D

Thalassocracy is the form of government that bases its power on maritime domination. In the case of the Cretans, all the power of Knossos, the island's main city, was based on the hegemony of the Aegean Sea, which was exercised by the Cretan fleet. The Phoenicians were another ancient people who based their power on thalassocracy.